Highly efficient dye decontamination via microbial salecan polysaccharide-based gels

Abstract Wastewater treatment materials that combine high decontamination performance, ease of use and economic production are highly desirable for practical applications. Herein, we fabricated a low-cost and recyclable bio-adsorbent based on a microbial polysaccharide (salecan) for efficient removal of methyl violet (MV) from wastewater. The success fabrication and the properties (such as thermal stability, microarchitecture, mechanical strength and water uptake) of the adsorbent had been investigated, and the hydrogels were found to have tunable properties by simple adjusting the salecan dose in hydrogel composition. Adsorption data displayed that the adsorption of MV followed the pseudo second-order kinetic model (R 2 = 0.99015) and Freundlich isotherm model (R 2 = 0.99221) with a maximum adsorption capacity of 178.9 mg/g. Moreover, salecan-based hydrogels showed a good reversibility in adsorption–desorption cycles. These features indicate that salecan-based bio-adsorbent may be a promising device for dye removal from dyeing waste water.